


Defining Home & Hearth

by LePetitMonstre



Category: Doom (Video Games)
Genre: Alien Gender/Sexuality, FTM Doom Slayer, Gen, M/M, Trans Male Character, more explanation/warnings in the AN
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:13:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27124321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LePetitMonstre/pseuds/LePetitMonstre
Summary: In his first year among the Argenta John Dark realizes he's not as alone as he thought he was.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Defining Home & Hearth

**Author's Note:**

> More Detailed Warnings/ Explanations/ World Building: mentions of internalized misogyny, pregnancy, childbirth (namely birth by cesarean section). You never hear about women on Argent D'nur, so I thought, what if there aren't any? What if the entire species is queer men? The sex ratio is pretty 50/50, but both sexes are indistinguishable from human 'men' on face value. So basically single gender/two sexes.  
> The Slayer, who is FTM, is very happy to realize this is the realm he's landed in.  
> The Slayer's name is John Dark, inspired by the leading lady of Doom Annihilation. It's not a good movie, but I had a fixation on Joan of Arc as a kid, so..

Among humans, even his brothers in arms as a marine, he was set apart by the scars on his chest and what lacked between his legs. Not that they needed to know, of course. Daily injections were easy to shrug off in the era of space travel. Everyone was on some sort of medication to withstand the heavy radiation of the void between planets.

But he did feel different. He was picked on enough when talk of pets revealed his love of rabbits. He had no intent of giving these assholes more reason to treat him like he was different. _Effeminate._ That's the word he was avoiding. The word that had haunted him from a young age. Fuck that. He was stronger than every one of them and had worked harder to get there. That should have been enough. But the sense of being 'other' remained.

Until he earned his place among the Argenta. 

The lack of women was disheartening at first, for John only dwelled in the barracks. It made sense that they might operate like humans; keeping their women far away from the battlefield. He knew that kind of prejudice existed in humans not so long ago.

A month after he earned his place a soldier of high rank returned to the barracks with a child on his arm. This child was 'of his blood', the others said, and all were pleased to meet the new arrival. A child was greeted with joy, just as they were on earth. But to be separated from their mother at such a tender age? It didn't make much sense. Unless the mother had died, but... then the father would be more somber. Unless the Argenta truly thought of their women so lowly as to be disposable. The thought made the Slayer shudder with rage and a deeply buried pain.

Instead, he asked questions. Making assumptions would get him nowhere. Alone on a strange world, gathering information was his best option.

He approached the father after the crowd had dispersed.

"He is a healthy child. You must be proud."

"I am. I understand now what is meant by a child being worth all the work." The father smiled at him, evidently at ease with John's presence.

It was a good sign. "I haven't seen you here before. What do they call you?"

"Valen. I can say the same about you."

"John Dark."

Valen repeated the name back as if it were a single word. Reinforcing John's growing suspicion that surnames were much more like titles among the Argenta.

"The others call me Hellwalker."

"Ah, yes. I have heard of you. Nobody gossips better than a bored soldier, and I have been very bored in my bedrest since this one was born." He gave the child a slight bump on his knee and the little grub cooed.

"How old are they?"

"Half the year. You must not be Argenta if you don't know when a child ought to be introduced to their people."

"I am not."

"Strange. You certainly look like us."

"Lucky coincidence."

"Indeed," Valen said.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Don't see why not. And I'll try not to think you're a fool for asking."

"My thanks," John answered. An awkward phrase in his mouth, but he heard it from the other Argenta often enough. "Where is the child's mother?"

"What is a mother?"

"The, um, the woman who carried the child."

"I've not heard of a woman before. Do you mean a man of womb? Because that's not something you go around asking a stranger, but I'll allow it because you come from a strange people and I have my son with me today."

A new hope was beginning to strike a match in his heart. He had not seen a single woman since he arrived because Argenta women did not exist, which implied something else both familiar and entirely new. "So, you're all men?"

"Yes? We certainly aren't Makyrs or demons."

"Where I come from, we're split into two groups. There's a lot of pressure to become a certain type of person based on your part in having children. Those who can get pregnant, and those who can impregnate. Is that not true here?"

"Of course not. We all look the same, and outside of child making we can all complete the same work. A society that thinks otherwise sounds rather barbaric, in my opinion."

"You have no idea. Especially for those of us who don't fit. But it takes its toll on everyone. Even those who don't realize it. But now, you're telling me that I've found a place where no such differences exist."

"I think you have, Hellwalker."

Hellwalker indeed. "Perhaps... I can be at home here. Like I never was on my planet. Can I ask you a personal question?"

"I think you already have, but I'll allow it." Valen's words sounded like a warning but the crooked smile on his face was more welcoming. Meanwhile, his son was growing tired and quiet in his arms. But those tiny, intelligent eyes were still fixed on John.

"I was born as... Or I am, now, a man. But I can bear children if I want to. I have a womb, as you put it."

"That's not really a question, but I think I understand. You're implying your people told you that you were wrong. Because you did not act like a child barer does among your kind."

"Yeah. I-I know. I'm still figuring this out. Did you give birth to your son?"

"Yes I did. I thought I made that obvious."

"You mentioned bedrest but I thought, maybe you stayed by your partner's bedside."

"No, this one came from my blood. I was blessed with this child, and I'm glad he's here. But he gave me a lot of trouble. The healer had to cut him out. I've been told I should not tempt fate by having another."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. One is enough. I had always wanted to have a son, and this setback has only made him all the more precious to me. If that were possible. Did you have children, back where you came from?"

"No. I can't imagine doing that. I mean, I've been told my entire life that I can, that I should aspire to it, but... The thought of something else living inside me, frightens me."

"It's not for everyone. The first time I felt him move inside me was overwhelming."

"I wish people thought more like you back home." John said. "Or, I thought it was my home. Now I'm starting to think it wasn't. That I was always intended to be here."

"Maybe you were." Valen pat John's shoulder with the strong hold of his free arm. "It's been an honor to speak with you, Hellwalker. But now I need to find this sleepy-head a place to rest."

Indeed, the child had completely lost consciousness. Resting peacefully with an ear to his father's heartbeat.

"Of course. I'd hate to keep you."

As Valen stood to walk away John stopped him one last time that day. "Wait."

Valen turned back to face him.

"I will see you again later?"

"No doubt. Now that the healer has given me permission, I'll be around the barracks as often as I can."

"Good to hear," John smiled. It dawned on him how long it had been since he truly felt at ease around another person.

Valen returned the expression before walking away.


End file.
